A Totally Normal BBQ
by Capstar98
Summary: Tony and Pepper throw an Avengers BBQ. It's all fun and games until someone's appendix bursts.


We're going to say this story takes place in some alternate universe where Infinity War never happens.

Also, I realize this is not exactly medically accurate, so all you doctors out there just go ahead and squint a little for me.

* * *

The sun shone brightly through the clouds and a cool wind played over the lawn outside of the Avengers compound. It was warm, but not too hot, and the air smelled like freshly mown grass.

In other words, it was a perfect day for a summer barbecue.

Tony couldn't have planned it better himself. That is, because he didn't plan it, he just picked the date. Pepper did the rest - invited people, bought food, set up the tables. He really didn't deserve her.

The plan was to relax and have a good time - no fighting, no explosions - just good clean fun. They needed some of that around here every once in a while. Plus, it had been a while since all the Avengers were together - or even a majority of them. Usually, at least a few of them were off in some random part of the globe, fighting the forces of evil and all that jazz.

Slowly, people started to arrive. Rhodey was already grabbing a hot dog. Steve was there of course, walking over to the pool with Bucky. Clint was here with his wife and kids, and there was Scott with his family.

And - there he was.

"Mr. Stark!" Peter grinned and waved at him, his aunt walking by his side.

"Hey, kid," he replied, a smile creeping onto his own face. He fixed his sunglasses on his face. "Welcome to the barbecue of the summer."

May's face was shaded by a large sun hat. "Sure looks like it," she said. "You got everyone here."

"You bet. No one can say no to Pepper," he quipped.

"Don't I know it," May replied. "Speaking of, where is she?" Funnily - or scarily - enough, May and Pepper had gotten quite close recently. Probably because they both had foolhardy superheros in their life.

Tony jerked his thumb over to the tables. "She should be over there with Happy. They were setting out the last of the food."

"Oh, great. I'll go see if she needs any help."

Peter laughed. "We know you two just like to talk about us," he said.

May smiled. "Guilty as charged. Alright, I'll see you boys by the pool!" She walked off to find Pepper.

"So, what's new, Pete?" Tony asked, looking down at the excited teenager.

"Well, I think I saw mac n' cheese over there, so this is pretty much the best day ever," Peter replied.

Tony chuckled. "Who knew that's all it took? I should stock up on more cheese," he said. "I'm partial to some corn on the cob, personally."

Peter's face scrunched up like he was remembering something. "You know, I once knew a girl who was allergic to corn on the cob. Not corn itself, like she could eat it _off_ the cob - just corn _on_ the cob."

"Well, that girl sounds like a liar," he replied, amused. "And she's missing out on one of life's true pleasures."

Peter chuckled to himself. "Yeah, now that I say that out loud, I probably shouldn't have just believed her."

"Kids lie about the weirdest things," he said, shaking his head.

Peter shot him a look.

"What?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just that adults lie about the weirdest things, too. Uncle Ben once told me that if I ate too much fudge it would kill me. It only took me about five years for me to figure out he just wanted more for himself," he said, a fond smile on his face.

Tony laughed, "Wow, what a power move. Technically, though, he wasn't wrong, if you think about it."

"Ha! Oh, right." Suddenly his smile cut off and he grimaced, hand on his stomach.

Tony frowned, concerned. "You okay?"

Peter looked up at him quickly, a smile already back on his face. "Oh, yeah. Just a stomach ache. I think I need some water or something."

"Okay," Tony raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it, instead moving on. "Are you allergic to anything?" he asked, curious. "Corn on the cob, perhaps?"

The kid shook his head. "Nope. Well, I was lactose intolerant, but I think the spider bite took care of that one."

"Weird," he replied, considering that. "Spiders don't make milk, do they?"

"No, what? No." Peter laughed. "Yeah, I don't really know how that one adds up either. But I'm not gonna overthink it," he added, shrugging.

A voice carried over the lawn towards them. "Peter!" the kid turned towards the sound. It was Scott. He was standing with Clint, Bucky, Steve, and a few of the other kids, including his daughter Cassie. "Pete, get over here!" he yelled. "We're getting a soccer game going, and I need you on my team!"

Peter flashed him a thumbs up and ran over to the group. Tony followed more slowly behind.

The pool flashed with the reflection of the sun, and the sounds of splashes reached his ears. Then the smell of the food hit him, and he almost moaned.

"You hungry?" Pepper asked him as he drew closer. She was sitting at one of the picnic tables, a glass of what looked like sangria in front of her. May sat next to her, sipping her own drink through a straw. Rhodey and Happy were sitting across from them.

"Well, would you look at this," he said. "All my favorite people in one place." He slipped onto the seat next to Pepper and planted a kiss on her cheek.

She smiled. "Well, we'd need Pete here for the full set," she said.

"Nah, he's a traitor! Abandoned me to play soccer with Scott."

Happy shook his head, amused. "Unforgivable."

"Now, did you say something about food? Because yeah, I'm hungry. Are we allowed to eat yet?"

Rhodey said, gesturing at Pepper, "Apparently not. I tried to grab a hot dog and this lady near snatched it out of my hands!"

"Why the heck can't we eat yet?" he asked, looking around.

"Not everyone's here," Pepper replied. "We're still waiting for a few more people."

He shrugged. "Well, that doesn't mean everyone else should suffer. I vote for freedom of eating."

"We'll give it a few more minutes," she said reasonably.

Tony looked over at the crew playing soccer. It looked like they were already mid game. Cassie was taking the ball down the field. He saw Bucky make an attempt to intercept, but she passed it over to Peter. The kid was a damn natural, apparently. The ball rolled easily between his feet as he dodged the other players. The path was open, and Tony was sure he was gonna go for the goal. Instead, he rolled the ball over to one of Clint's kids - his little girl, Lila. She knocked the ball forwards, and Steve moved us as if to stop it, although when it passed him everyone knew he was letting it in.

Cheers broke out, and Peter ran over to give Lila a high five. "Oh, my God!" he heard the kid exclaim, "Lila, that was _amazing!" _

"Guys, I think we've got a future pro soccer player over here," Bucky said.

Pepper nudged Tony with her elbow. "You don't wanna join?"

He shook his head, a soft smile on his face. "Nope. Right here is fine."

The afternoon passed in a flash. The soccer game ended up becoming a heated match between Peter, Scott, and Clint on one team and Bucky and Steve on the other, the young kids having moved over to swim. The game ended when Scott and Bucky both tried to header the ball at the same time. Luckily, no one was hurt, although a few people were pushed into the pool fully clothed.

Natasha and Bruce showed up eventually, claiming that "traffic had been bad." Right. More likely Natasha had had to convince Bruce to come along at the last minute. But they both folded into the party easily, Nat chatting it up with Rhodey and Helen Cho, and Bruce swimming with May.

Everyone pigged out on hamburgers, cole slaw, baked beans, and watermelon. Peter ate about five times his weight in mac n' cheese. Later they broke out the desserts - apple pie and popsicles - and Clint's boy Cooper "accidentally" ate a whole can of whipped cream.

Even on full stomachs they managed to start an intense game of pool volleyball. Peter had managed to win over all the little kids, of course, and they put him as the leader of the team they boldly called "the Winners."

The game quieted down as the sun started to set. Tony noticed the wind picking up and clouds forming in the sky, and he hoped it wouldn't rain. As it was, the clouds only served to make the sunset even prettier.

"Whoa, I've got to get a picture of this!" Peter said excitedly, breaking out his camera again. He had been snapping photos all night - In fact, Tony knew that he had gotten a shot of Steve with his head caught in the volleyball net. He was going to get his hands on that photo - only for posterity, of course. Not blackmail at all.

Tony was sitting next to Pepper again as the sun set and the sky grew dark.

"This was a great idea," Pepper said quietly, her arm wrapping around his waist.

"Hmm," Tony agreed. "It was. But this was all you, really. Thanks, Pep." He gave her a kiss.

The sky went dark as the sun disappeared. Of course, nature chose that moment to open the floodgates.

_BO - BOOM! _

Thunder rocked across the sky, and lightning flashed bright and way too close. Cassie screamed, and little Nathaniel started crying. A moment later, rain started pouring down.

Tony and Pepper leapt to their feet.

"Oh, great!" Tony groaned. He was soaked to the bone after only a moment.

"We've got to get everything inside!" Pepper yelled over the wind.

The group launched into action. Thankfully, they had a few super heros on hand, and it wasn't hard to get the heavy trays of food inside. Peter and Laura corralled the kids and got them out of the rain.

Meanwhile, lightning burst and thunder shook the ground. Wind whipped things out of their hands. Nature was wild.

It didn't take long for them to get everything inside, and soon they were all sitting in the living room, a little wet but otherwise okay. Everyone got a towel and fresh clothes.

Laura and Clint figured it was a good time to get their kids to bed, and brought them upstairs to say goodnight. Scott, Maggie, and Jim did the same with Cassie not long after.

The others gathered around on the sofas, listening to the rain beat against the windows and the thunder roll outside. Peter was the one to suggest watching a movie.

When he came back with the Goonies DVD, Tony chuckled, "Of course."

Peter put in the disc and came to sit next to him on the couch after grabbing another slice of pie.

Tony shook his head. "God, how well does that metabolism work, kid? You've eaten enough for a village at this point."

Peter smiled around the pie in his mouth. "You're just jealous."

He chuckled. "Oh, definitely. Don't you know what green smoothies Pepper has me on to keep this kind of figure?"

Peter suddenly groaned, holding putting his plate down quickly and bending his head over his lap.

Tony reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Pete? You okay, bud?"

Aunt May glanced over, a frown on her face. "You still have that stomach ache, Peter?" she asked.

Peter sat back up, a weak smile on his face. "I'm fine," he said.

Tony was doubtful. "Are you sure?"

The kid leaned back, pulling a blanket over himself. "I'm okay," he replied. "I guess I just ate too much."

"Well," Tony replied, still worried but accepting the answer, "Good to know there's a limit in there."

About halfway through the movie, May got up and said goodnight. Pepper followed not long after, placing a kiss on Tony's forehead as she left the room.

Rain still bounced against the glass, but the thunder had moved on.

Peter somehow scooched his way closer and closer to Tony as the movie went on, eventually ending up with his head on Tony's shoulder, only half awake.

"Hey Pete," Tony said softly.

"Hmm," Peter replied, his eyes half mast.

He smiled down at him. "You have a good night?"

His head nodded against Tony's shoulder. "Mmhmm. The best, Ms'r St'rk." He was asleep only a few minutes later.

The Goonies wrapped up, and slowly everyone else left the room to go off to bed, saying goodnight as they passed. Tony didn't move, unwilling to wake Peter. Instead, he leaned his head back, propped his feet up and closed his eyes.

He was about as content as he'd ever been. Even with the rain, it was one of the best nights that Tony could remember.

So, of course the universe had to go and ruin it.

* * *

When Tony startled awake, the room was perfectly dark around him. He could barely see his hand in front of his face.

But what had woken him? He thought for a moment it could have been thunder, but the storm must have stopped while he was asleep, because it wasn't even raining anymore.

Then he realized that where there should have been a Peter, there was only empty couch.

He got up, his internal alarms going off. Sure, it was possible that he had gone upstairs to find a real bed, but in the back of his mind Tony could sense that something was off.

His socked feet padded quietly on the floor as he walked down the hall, looking for Peter's familiar form in the dark. He kept one hand on the wall to make sure he didn't bump into anything.

"Pete?" he called out in a whisper.

Tony heard noises from down the hall, coming from what sounded like the bathroom. "Pete?" he said again, a little louder this time.

He heard the noise again, and when he realized what was happening, picked up speed. Peter was throwing up.

Tony slowly opened the bathroom door. "Peter, are you okay?"

Peter was on the floor, curled up around the toilet bowl. He looked pitiful - his eyes were red and runny, his nose dripping snot, and as Tony stood there he heaved again, groaning.

"Oh, geez," he said, walking close and putting a hand on the kid's back. He felt a little too warm. "This doesn't look good, Peter. Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"I -" his voice was cut off by another heave. "I feel terrible," Peter moaned.

"Well, I think that's a given." Tony's hand rubbed his back in a way he hoped was comforting and passed Peter a towel. "When'd you start throwing up?"

Peter wiped his face with the towel, getting most of the snot and tears off his face. "Like a half hour ago. I woke up - God, my stomach hurts so bad." He clutched the toilet with shaking fingers while his other arm wrapped around his abdomen.

"Did you just eat too much? Or is this us figuring out you're allergic to corn on the cob?" he asked, trying to keep his voice light.

But Peter only shook his head pitifully. "No, I - my… my stomach starting hurting yesterday. I kept waiting for it to go away, but - but it didn't. It wasn't that bad before, but when I woke up… now it's really bad."

Tony blinked. He had a feeling this was worse than food poisoning. His heart raced. "Okay," he said quickly. "Hold on, I'm calling for backup."

He stepped back into the hall, but when he reached for his phone he realized it was somewhere over by the couch. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" he called out softly instead.

Luckily, she was programed to be quieter at this time of night. "_Here, Boss." _

"Wake up May and send her down here," he said. "Tell her Peter's throwing up, and his stomach hurts."

"Mr. Stark?" Peter's voice came from behind the door. Tony stepped back inside the bathroom, the scent of vomit filling his nose again.

"Hey, I'm right here."

"Mr. Stark, something's wrong with me," he said.

Tony hated the anguish in his voice. His hand went to down to rest again on Peter's back, and he squatted down next to the kid even as his knees protested the action. "Just breathe, okay? Your aunt's coming. She's a nurse, she'll be able to help."

Peter just nodded once before jerking forwards and throwing up again. "Ughh," he groaned.

A few minutes later, they heard May's footsteps in the hall, and she opened the door to the bathroom.

"Peter?" she said, her voice still a little thick with sleep. "Peter, what's wrong?" She took in the scene and shot a worried glance at Tony. "What's going on?"

He stood up, and said quietly, "He woke up about a half hour ago and started throwing up. Apparently his stomach's been hurting for a day or two, but it's a lot worse now. I think - could he have appendicitis?"

Peter's hearing didn't miss that, and his eyes snapped up to them. "Appendicitis?" he said, his voice betraying fear. "That's - that's serious. That's bad."

May took a breath. "It's okay, Peter. If it is, it's really common and treatable. Let's just try and figure this out first. Is this the same stomach ache you told me about yesterday?"

"Yeah," He nodded.

"Where does it hurt on your stomach? What part hurts the most?"

He shook his head, "I don't - the bottom, I guess. But it just all hurts. May, it hurts so bad." His face turned up to them, and Tony could see tears running down his face.

"Oh, honey," May said, kneeling next to him. She flushed his puke down the toilet before looking at him closely. "Okay, I'm going to press on your stomach, and you tell me where it hurts the most."

She slowly prodded his stomach, but before he could even do more than groan again in pain, Tony saw her shoulders tense. She stood quickly and pulled Tony out of the room. Her eyes were wide and scared.

"What?" Tony said, suddenly so much more anxious than only a moment ago.

She spoke quickly, "Tony, this is bad. We need to get him to the MedBay _now_. I think his appendix might have burst."

He felt the blood drain from his face, and didn't bother whispering when he said, "F.R.I.D.A.Y., get Helen down to the MedBay right now." He entered the bathroom again and put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Pete, you gotta work with us here. We're gonna help, but first we have to get down to medical. Can you stand?"

Peter nodded weakly, and used the toilet to push himself to his feet. He immediately swayed, his facing paling and eyes blinking for a moment too long.

"Whoa!" Tony said, stabilizing him with one hand and cupping the side of his face with the other. "Steady now." They walked to the door, and when they got to the hall May was quick to get on Peter's other side.

They made their way slowly to the elevator, Peter breathing heavily, sweat rolling off his brow. They stopped once so he could throw up in a trash can. But eventually they made it, and Peter leaned up against the elevator wall, obviously exhausted.

"It's okay, Peter," May was saying, though her voice was shaking a little. "You'll feel better soon, we're getting help."

The doors opened a moment later to the MedBay. Somehow, Helen was already there, her hair messy and still dressed in her pajamas. But one look at Peter had her immediately move into action.

"What is it?" she asked as they set Peter on a gurney.

May looked her in the eye. "I think he's got appendicitis, and that it's burst," she said quickly.

Helen's eyes widened, and she immediately pressed her hands to Peter's abdomen. Obviously, she didn't like what she'd found. "We have to move quick," she said. "I called up a few people since I had a feeling this would be serious. They should already be on their way from the other residence hall. But May, can you help me until they get here? He needs to be prepped for surgery."

Tony's heart raced. Surgery? This was bad. This was so bad. How did this go so bad so quickly?

May nodded. "I'm here. Why don't you get yourself ready, and I'll get Peter set as best I can?"

Helen looked down at herself, seemingly just remembering that she was only in her pajamas. "Right. I'll be back in a minute." She ran down the hall and out of sight.

May was moving quickly around the space. She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut through Peter's shirt, pulling it away from his body and then throwing it towards the trash.

Tony walked up to Peter's side and grabbed his hand. "Hey, Pete. You still with us?"

Peter's face was pale and screwed up in pain. "Yeah," he said roughly. "It hurts."

His chest tightened in concern. "I know, buddy. We're gonna fix it. You have appendicitis, and they have to do surgery to fix it."

"S-surgery?" Peter stuttered.

"Don't worry Peter," May said, pausing for a moment to brush his hair away from his eyes, her voice calming. "People have this procedure all the time. And no one needs an appendix. You're gonna be okay."

Peter looked up at her, complete trust in his eyes. "Okay."

May turned back to what she was doing. She had put on gloves and was putting an IV into Peter's arm. He didn't seem to notice as the needle pricked his skin.

Helen walked back in then in scrubs, two men with her. They must have been the backup she called in. "Thanks May," she said. "We'll take it from here."

There was a burst of activity as Peter was rolled out of the room, and then May and Tony were left alone.

Tony shook his head, still staring off in the direction they had disappeared. "How did this happen?" he said. "I thought you had time with appendicitis - I thought it didn't just burst like that?"

May shrugged, her expression still filled with concern. "I think maybe we did have the warnings signs - I mean, that stomach ache Peter had…"

He frowned. "But that wasn't that bad! He was fine all night."

"Well, I guess we shouldn't over analyze it. Hopefully Helen will have some answers for us later."

"How long is this going to take?" he asked.

May was walking back over to the corner of the room where there were a few chairs. "It usually doesn't take very long - probably a half hour?"

Tony watched her carefully. "How are you so calm?" he asked. His heart was still beating quickly.

She took a seat. "Well, it's true that this is a common thing. I know it can be serious, but we caught it, and Peter's going to surgery. He's in the best place he can be right now." she patted the seat beside her. "Now, come sit down."

"Shouldn't I wake everyone up?" he said.

She shook her head. "It can wait until the morning. Just watch, he'll be feeling much better by then."

Tony took a deep breath and moved to sit next to May. He had to admit, it was helpful to see her so calm.

They sat in silence for few minutes before May turned to look at him, her face thoughtful. "You know, I don't think I've ever thanked you properly," she said.

Tony frowned. "For what?"

She smiled softly. "For taking care of Peter."

He shrugged bashfully. "It's nothing," he replied. "That kid makes it easy."

"But I know it's not easy," she countered. "Because it's certainly not easy for me." She looked down at her lap, and back up again. "When Peter came into my life, I wasn't ready for it. Ben and I were young, and we hadn't even thought about having kids yet. For a while I was angry at Richard and Mary - his parents - for dying." She shrugged. "But I always loved Peter."

Tony smiled. "It's pretty hard not to."

She nodded, and continued, "It was never easy, but Ben and I did it together. And… after Ben died, I wasn't sure if I could do it on my own. He was so important - to Peter and me." She looked up into his eyes. "But I'm so grateful that you found Peter. I know we've had our differences, but I also know you'd never hurt him. And he needs… someone like you in his life. So, thank you."

Tony felt the weight of responsibility and love on his shoulders, and smiled again. "I'll always be here. For Peter and for you."

"I know," she replied.

* * *

A half hour later Helen came out to find them. Tony looked for something off in her expression, and relaxed when he didn't see anything. It must have gone well.

He and May stood up as she got closer.

"How'd it go?" May asked.

Helen smiled softly. "It went just fine," she said. "You'll be able to see him in a minute. Let me just explain what happened during surgery."

"Yeah, sure," Tony replied.

"Well, Peter's appendix had definitely burst. It's possible that because of his higher pain tolerance now, it didn't really hurt until after that happened. Anyway, we put him under anesthesia, made an incision, and removed the appendix, as well as cleaned out the surrounding area. There were no complications, and he should heal quickly - even faster because of his powers. We are going to put him on antibiotics for a few days, to try and fight off infection as a result of the rupture."

"Okay," May said. "That doesn't sound so bad."

Helen shook her head. "Nope. Not bad at all. He should be back to normal in no time."

Tony flashed her a relieved smile. "You said we could see him?"

She nodded. "Yeah. He should be waking up from the anesthesia now. As a fair warning, he might be a bit groggy."

They followed her down the hall and into a room on the left. Peter was lying on a bed, partially propped up. His eyes were closed, but they opened when he heard them come in.

Tony smiled at him. "You feeling better, Pete?" he said, putting a hand on his shoulder. May walked around the bed to his other side.

Peter nodded weakly, obviously still a little out of it. "So much better," he said.

May chuckled. "I bet. You gave us a good scare, though."

The kid frowned pitifully. "I'm sorry I threw up," he said.

"It's okay," Tony replied. "It was really gross, but I forgive you."

May shot him an amused look, but turned back to Peter when she said, "Next time let us know how bad it is _before_ your appendix bursts, okay Peter?"

Peter shook his head earnestly. "I didn't know! It didn't hurt so bad until I woke up. I promise."

Tony chuckled, and brushed a hand through Peter's hair to calm him. "We know, buddy. Relax."

"Oh. Okay."

And as the three of them talked, Peter slowly getting more alert and more himself, Tony thought about how lucky he was, for Peter and for everyone else in the house. He might not have had any blood relatives left, but he had a family.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed!  
As always, leave a comment if you have any thoughts or ideas!


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